not the latest sci fi novel nor a comment on the state of the industry but rather the agency i have signed with. wonderful machine is based near philly, pa and spans the continent as we speak and is growing. check it out.

and large shout out to rachel hulin at shoot! the blog over at photoshelter. she’s doing a bang up job of covering photography with a timely, personal appeal in general and recently was kind enough to mention me by name on a post gushing about wonderful machine.

for even more thought provoking reading try her post on image metrics. and while you’re perusing photoshelter take in the work they’ve done on behalf the industry with their school of stock section covering who, what, why and how.

quick note as our numbers have changed highlighting my growing presence in oregon. you now have the option of reaching the montana office directly at 406.862.3811 or me in oregon at 503.501.8174. either number will reach me within hours if not sooner.

have been on the road for the past month more or less and off again soon. do have an update on international travel as it affects photographers, specifically between canada and the us, so stay tuned.

it comes from everywhere and anywhere. the beauty (usually) is not knowing when it’s going to hit. having been on the road for the past two weeks i’ve really noticed it. maybe it’s stepping outside any schedule you have, or simply being in a new place or a combination of the two.

whatever it is, make it happen and replicate the catalyst it as often as possible.

having beers in pdx a 10 days ago with a friend from w+k he pulled out his pre iphone smarttool - it was refreshing to take in the blurbs, sketches and conceptuals all penciled out in the pocket moleskine notebook - love those things. since then i’ve been lucky to catch a few other inspirations and am excited about the ideas they have brought about.

one of the best was a chance encounter with mark van s. a talented brooklyn photographer himself he has recently become known as the brains behind digital photobooth. he’s put together an amazing idea and one of only a few i’ve seen that truly capitalize on the best parts of digital photography. for anyone that’s familiar with japanese purikura and the ‘photo booth’ craze that’s been there for years, this takes it to a whole new level. it’s a portable photo system that can be transported anywhere, doesn’t have a hard booth and not only spits out a perfectly lit print in less than 10 seconds but also projects a version onto as many screens as you’d like. i’ve always wondered about ways to shoot individual portraits for large events and this is phenomenal.

and people not only get it, they absolutely love it - they relax, have fun and don’t stop. mark even told me he’s turned down celebrity offers to purchase one of his units (there are seven right now). the inspiring thing was not only the ingenuity that he’s put into this work he obvious loves but from the very subjects themselves. the scope and variety of portrait ideas that people come up with is astounding. here’s my first of many attempts:

so whether it’s the farmer’s market, the latest stuff the dj’s spinning or the next place you’re heading keep the mind open and a camera ready. you can bet i’ll be doing that today at jfk.

the clock is ticking.

backstory here.

TEN is an ongoing serial effort to highlight points of value within a topic without watering anything down or writing a full blown novel. Obviously there are more factors involved with some decisions and less with others. But in a nutshell creatives in general and the world on whole have a tendency to make processes more involved than they need to be.

The previous TEN post was on saying no and the power it holds. This time around I’m highlighting a number of issues that affect every photographer at some point in workflow though aren’t all that well known. Be it a lack of manufacturer presentation, spotty resources or simply oversight on the user end I’ve come across these issues numerous times and still hear the same questions almost regularly.

1: computer investments should put processor power ahead of RAM - most systems, including mac, don’t allow you to swap processors later but you can always replace and upgrade RAM.

2: lightroom catalogs max out at around 40,000 images. this number is from an adobe tech and i have also heard 25,000 as a limit though have well over that in more than one catalog. the future number, according to beta rumors, is one million.

3: lightroom is not (yet) a network based application - meaning your catalogs can’t be on an external drive. the images themselves can be but none of this works on a network across several computers.

4: retrospect works only with external drives that are directly connected to the computer you’d like to backup/copy/duplicate. again, no network love here.

5: mac pros, at least the newest ones, take PCI E for express cards - don’t be fooled.

6: even the new firewire 800 drobos don’t cut it as main drive material - they are for secondary storage or archiving only.

7: the latest iphone incarnation is dialed in with reqall reportedly - will be testing this soon.

8: since Western Digital makes drives themselves, not just shells like LaCie and others, they tend to use higher end units in their own systems and sell lower end units to the other companies to put in their snazzy shells. they also make a new green power series of drives. interesting spin for the my book series.

9: mobile me will take some tweaking to get in order, especially if you have multiple machines to sync.

10: the latest update to heathkorvola.com is iphone compatible - enjoy.

couple of good friday things today aside from the weather. rob haggart always has great lists over at aphotoeditor so especially interesting to see his take on the ‘outdoor sports & lifestyle’ world. a fairly complete post though i’m sure there are more - keep in mind that this is his list, as he prefaces, based on who he’s worked with or would like to collaborate with.

strobist talks up the canon G9 as the new polaroid which i can attest to as a fine tool. working with a client here in the rockies from atlanta recently it worked like a charm to lay down specifics during a day of scouting. i’m actually surprised to hear that only “20% - 25%” of outside’s photographers are using this technique - G9 or otherwise.

and on the gear front, obviously big day for the iphone. always think there’s something to be said for second generation goods though - be it outdoor, photo or tech - as undoubtedly the first round needs some work. anyone remember bd’s first round of avalungs (nice pete)? until the machines are making everything then patches, fixes and upgrades are a fact of life.

even moreso than the iphone i’m ready for apple to roll out their new access everywhere service mobile me. for anyone who travels this will be great. true, it’s been around in some form or another for years but to have push programing, online storage and remote access all in one solid package will be pure efficient sweetness. of course, to be honest, i’m really looking forward to tying it all into the nice new mac pro enroute.

finally, speaking of computers there’s no way around their boa like grip on photography. this means we could spend time dealing with more 0’s & 1’s or find someone smarter and get the hell out of the way. here’s one such blog that i think will develop into a great resource. computersforphotographers is the work of photographer, digital darkroom instructor and all around tech guy dave marx. bring it dave.

so it’s been an entire year now since i started putting ideas on location photography down here. and a great year it was. looking forward to a plethora of changes in this next year as i have a few ideas on hand and a brand new outlook. there’s a few reasons for this - partly due to imagination, part to the new business outlook for the industry and part to creativity.

the imagination idea was one of my early posts and among other things i mentioned the guy that grabbed balloons, tied them to a lawn chair and took off from bend, or. didn’t make it far. coincidently, he’s back this past week never giving up his idea and riding his homemade contraption all the way to idaho. that’s evolving imagination.

business wise, we all know that the industry is changing. the question is where it’s going. among all the guesses there are a few that ring more true, or at least more interesting, than others - one of those is this recent take by former NY Times staffer Vincent LaForet via sportsshooter.

lastly, creativity is everything… or nothing. when you have it and your in the flow there’s nothing better. when you don’t, it feels like you’re ready to join the dark side. i’m always thinking of how ideas originate, how the concepts that shape our world take hold and evolve. i ask other creatives whenever i have the chance where they derive their inspiration. the answers vary but what i’ve gleened is that the methods and consistency are similar. whatever it is you’re chasing take notes, always be fresh, keep the numbers high and never give up.

during a recent two weeks in oregon i came across an interesting article in the june issue of scientific american mind on creativity. not what you might expect from this journal but a good read nonetheless (other stories included chronic itching: causes & cures and bisexual species: unorthodox sex in the animal kingdom among others). how to unleash your creativity is a roundtable interview with three very different ‘experts’. the most recognizable is julia cameron author of the artist’s way. the other two are professors and all three are fascinated with the mechanics of creativity.

among the highlights is the idea of getting your ideas out - all of them. whether it’s by writing, as cameron advocates, or email, text, rss or something like jott or reqall yo’uve got to get the numbers up there. then follow through with the images to match. there is inherently no guarantee what works but your ratio of successful ideas, and thus successful images, goes up with the increasing numbers. the mag quotes:

“creative people are productive. they may have lots of ideas that don’t work, but the point is that they have lots of ideas. so if people want to be more creative - and to be effective problem solvers - they’re going to have to be disciplined…”

i would even take that a step further as i disagree that creative people, “may have lots of ideas that don’t work”. they definitely have a vast pool of ideas that don’t work. the key is to fight through those to the winners. einstein is quoted as saying something to the effect of it’s not that i’m so smart, it’s that i’m so stubborn.

in a basic sense the panel breaks down the process into four categories. not really the process of creativity but rather how to maintain creative prowess. those four ideas - capturing, challenging, broadening & surrounding - fit photography to a tee.

so follow your ideas and expand the creativity by getting it down on paper, pushing forward, keeping it new and never stopping. and if you’re up for the test, robert epstein from ucsd has on your creativity score here.

have been orchestrating a few moves lately and wanted to announce that i’m now working out of portland, oregon in addition to the montana office. have been expanding into my hometown for awhile and look forward to being there on a regular basis. caught the tail end of the rose festival (and the opening of the new voodoo donuts on the eastside) recently and will be out again in a few weeks.

also wanted to pass along a shout out to the folks at newblogwatch.com for the recognition lately. had the blog featured as one of their choice picks lately. my hat is off to Neon Sky as they have done a knock up job on customizing my site here leaving me more time for creativity elsewhere.

speaking of which, more to come on a creative concept that’s been hanging on for weeks…

here’s the unfortunate truth or ‘how not to work it’ with business these days. i’ve talked about the meat of things involved here in an earlier post here. this is a uniquely photo related video but with the economy tanking it’s apparent throughout the creative / visual media industry. thanks jeff for the link. here’s to a few laughs over the father’s day weekend.

Cool project coming up from aurora photos out of the other Portland – in maine. (I’m out in pdx and the Oregon coast right now) In celebration of their 15th anniversary the brain trust at this expanding agency has come up with an inclusive project titled action:reaction. It will start this Sunday 6.8 for the participants (which includes talent such as beth wald, david mcclain & others).

Here’s how it works in the words of aurora’s jose azel,

“One photographer will be chosen at random from the list of more than 65
participating Aurora contributors. This first photographer will get an email
Sunday, June 8, at noon and then must conceive, shoot and upload three
images to the Action:Reaction website within 47 hours. There will be a link
in the email that will take you to your Action:Reaction upload page. An
editor from Aurora will select one of your three images, and that image will
be posted to the Action:Reaction site immediately. Once posted, the next
photographer will automatically be notified by email. This email will have
the previously selected image embedded in that mail. This photographer now
has 47 hours to make three images that in some way relate to the previous
photographer’s image and the cycle continues.”

Images will begin to appear live on www.aurora15.com two days later, Thursday, June 12th and then
continue until all the participating photographers have gone, more than two months later. Keep an eye on it as it should be good. Great concept for the web, I’m interested to see what it spawns, aurora or otherwise.